One perk of discovering a new species is being able to name it. A trio of paleontologists that has identified a new dinosaur from Madagascar named their find after singer-songwriter Mark Knopfler, guitarist and cofounder of the rock group Dire Straits. Details of Masiakasaurus knopfleri were fleshed out in the Jan. 25 Nature. The 1.8-meter-long predator had a profile like no other dinosaur because the foremost of its lower teeth grew almost horizontally (SN: 11/11/00, p.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.